A Cautionary Tale: Text Messaging Medical Orders

Talk Ten Tuesdays

Fast, convenient, and cutting-edge, the new trend of text-messaging medical orders is being met with mixed results. Some favor the ease and speed, while others are concerned that it could comprise patient safety while not accurately documenting patient care.

Reporting our lead story during the next edition of Talk Ten Tuesdays will be Rose Dunn, chief operations officer for First Class Solutions. Rose will report on findings of a survey focusing on texting of medical orders and the challenges this practice creates for the healthcare team. Finally, she’ll sum things up with what the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has to say about the practice.

Other segments to be featured on the broadcast include:

• News Desk: Larry Field, DO, anchors the Talk Ten Tuesdays News Desk with the very latest healthcare news. Field is the treasurer of the American College of Physician Advisors.

• Tuesday Focus: Ellen Fink-Samnick, an award-winning industry expert and author, returns to report on the new Z codes described in the 2019 proposed Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS).
  
• Physician Burnout: Continuing our coverage of physician burnout will be former emergency department physician-turned-consultant Tracy Sanson, MD.
  
• TalkBack: Talk Ten Tuesdays co-host Erica Remer, MD returns with another installment of her popular segment.

• Coding Report: Nationally recognized coding and documentation authority Terry Fletcher reports on the controversy surrounding medical necessity versus medical decision-making (MDM).

Talk Ten Tuesdays. More than just talk.™